Harm Reduction

AWARE promotes the message of personal wellness via guidance, education,
research and collaboration focusing on healthy choices regarding the use of
alcohol and other drugs. The AWARE program promotes this message through a
positive approach focused on reducing harm for individuals who choose to drink
and those around them. College students have the intellectual capacity to make
responsible, informed decisions regarding personal substance use. It is not the
role of the AWARE program to eliminate drinking, our goal is to provide students
with accurate information regarding substance use and the skills necessary to
reduce or eliminate harm.

UW StudentsAlthough lifetime abstinence from alcohol and drugs may
be the goal for particular individuals, it is not the goal for the majority of
college students we see. We see students with various goals for their drinking,
such as decreasing amount consumed per occasion, decreasing the frequency
drinking occurs, or changing personal factors increasing safe behaviors. No
matter what a student's goal is, our role is to meet them where they are and
help them get to where they want to be.

Below are some harm reduction
strategies to help keep you and those surrounding you safe.

Switch between alcohol and non-alcohol beverages.

Determine, in advance, not to exceed a set number of drinks.

Choose not to
drink alcohol.

Use a designated driver.

Eat before and/or during
drinking.

Keep track of how many drinks you have had.

Be the
designated driver.

Suggest to a friend that they slow down or stop for the
night.

Refuse a ride from someone who has been drinking or is high.

Keep a friend from leaving a party with someone they just met or did not come
with, if they have been drinking.